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(NO Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 51.

i A. M. CROOKER.

' SAW COTTON GIN.

WITNEESES.

(No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 2. A. M. GROOKBR.

SAW COTTON GIN.

Patented May 17, 1892,.

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A. M. GRo'oKER. SAW COTTON GIN.

No. 475,206.- Patented May 17,1892.

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(No Model.) v 6 SheetS-Sheet 1. A. M. GROKER. SAW COTTON GIN.

Patented May 17, 1892.

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(No Model.) -6 sheets-sheet 5.

A. M. CROOKER. SAW COTTON GIN.

No. 475,206. Patented May 17, 1892.

(No Model.) 6Sheets'-Sheet 6. l

A. M. CROOKER. SAW COTTON GIN.

No. 475,206. y A i Patented May 17, 41892.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED M. OROOKER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, OF ONE-HALF TO `DENNIS J. GRIFFIN, OF SAME PLACE.

SAW COTTON-GIN.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent N 0. 475,206, dated May 17, 1892. Application filed September 29, 1891. Serial No. 407,156. (No model.)

l T a/ZZ whom t may concern:

Be itknown that I, ALFRED M. CROOKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Saw Cotton-Gins, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide a new and improved ginning apparatus for Io completely separating the fiber or lint of cott0n from all parts of the seed and pods or bolls, even though the latter are undeveloped, whereby a merchantable ber is produced from immature field cotton.

The invention consists, essentially, in the combination, with a gin-casing, a gang of saws, a rotary brush, and a gin-breast, of an air-trunk, and means for producing a current of air through the casing and trunk for the zo purpose ol conveying the material to the gang of saws in such manner that the lightest and desirable portion of the material is invariably uppermost, and is thereby first presented to the action of the saws, while the heaviest or refuse parts will descend bythe force of gravity, as will more fully hereinafter appear.

The invention also consists in an improved construction of gin-breast, whereby the saws are protected from heavy refuse or foreign 3o matter. y

The invention also consists in a novel construction of beater-cylinders and in other features of combination or arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed, ref- 3 5 erence being made to the accompanying draw- Figurel is a transverse sectional view taken in a vertical plane through the ginning apparatus. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken vertically through the center of the ginning apparatus. Fig. 3 is an end elevation looking at the feed end of the apparatus. Fig. 4 is a similar view looking at the delivery end of the same. Fig.A 5 is. a detail perspective view of aportion of the gin-breast.

Fig. 6 is a detail perspective View of one of the breast-bars. Fig. 7 is a detail vertical sectional View showingthe saws in elevation, for the purpose of clearly exhibiting the construction of the breast-bars. Fig. Sis a detail perspective view showing portions of the beater-cylinders. Figs. 9, l0, and l1 are detail sectional views of'one of the beater-cylinders to exhibit the manner in which the beater arms or flukes increase in number from 5 5 the feed to the delivery end thereof, and Fig.

l2 is a detail perspective view of a portion of the endless apron for conveying the material into and out of the apparatus.

In order to enable those skilled in the art to 6o make and use my invention, I will now describe the same in detail, 'referring to the drawings, whereiny The numeral l indicates a gin-casing having in its base portion a horizontally-traveling endless apron 2, one portion of which projects through the gin-casing at one end thereof into a feed hopper or mouth 3, while the opposite portion projects through the other end of the gin-casing for delivering the refuse material. 7o The delivery end of the gin-casing is made as air-tight as is practicable, but air can enter Y the gin-casing at the feed end thereof for a purpose which will hereinafter appear. The endless apron is preferably composed of a series of flexible parallel bands 4, Fig. 12, supporting a sheet 5 of flexible material, on which is arranged a plurality of transverse slats 6, adapted to travel at their end kport-ions on horizontal guides 7, so that the uppermost 8o portion of the traveling apron is properly supported and thereby rendered susceptible ot' sustaining the mass of material which is being operated upon. The endless apron extends around suitable rollers S, and an auxil- 8 5 iary roller 9 is located above the apron at the delivery end of the gin-casing for the proper delivery of the refuse material.

A pair of beater-cylinders 10 are arranged parallel to each other and in the samehoriA` 9o zontal plane at a point above the traveling conveyer or apron, and each cylinder is pro-Y vided along its length with a gang of llattened beaterarms or flukes l2, so angularly set or arranged that when the cylinders are rotated the arms or fiukes operate to drivethe material from the feed endto the delivery end of 'the gin-casing.

.The material is fed to the endless conveyer or apron at the feed hopper or mouth 3, and roo as such material is conveyed into the apparatus it comes in contact with the revolving beater-cylinders, and their actionv on the material is such as to beat and separate the stock and facilitate its progress toward the delivery end of the gin-casing. This result is materially facilitated by setting the iiat arms or flukes at the proper angle and gradually increasing the number of arms or flukes from the feed end to the delivery end of the casing, as will be understood by reference to Figs. 2, 9, 10, and 11, Y

The gang of ginsaws 13 are arranged on a shaft 14 in the usual manner and co-operate with a gin-breast composed of breast-bars 15,

Figs; 5, 6, and 7, having pendent guards 1.6, `preferably formed by constructing each breast-bar of a piece of metal or other suitable material which is T-shaped in cross-sectionr to form a curvilinear flange, which `con stitutes the guard V16. The outer edge 17 of eachv guard-flange 16 projects slightly beyond the periphery of the saws, and consequently the ianges shield or protect theI saw-teeth from contact with the pods and other heavy refuse matter. In other words, the breast-bars constructed as described operate as guards to the saw-teeth when material other than the fiber or lint is presented thereto.V

' The upper end portion of the gincasing is provided at each end with a suctionfan or blower 18, which connects with an air-trunk 19, common to both fans or blowers. The driving-shafts 2O of the fans or blowers are belted, as at 21 ,to the shaft 22 of the gin-brush 23, which operates to clean the lint or fiber from the gin-saws. The brush-shaft is belted, as at24, to the saw-shaft 14, and this saw-shaft i `is belted, as at 25, to one of the beater-cylindors. The two beater-cylinders are rotated through the medium of any suitable mechanism. The endless conveyer or apron may be operated through the medium of belts 26 and 27 and pulleys 28,29, and 30, the latter being on one of the beaterecylinders. I do not, however, conne myself to any particular mechanism for driving the various working parts of the ginning apparatus, for obviously otherl means will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. The action of the fans or blowers is to create an ascending current of ai r through the gin-casing, and as the material is fed into the apparatus it is beaten and separated by the beater-cylinders, whereby the ascending air-current readily acts on and` conveys the material to the gang of gin-saws, where the material undergoes the usual process employed in ginning cotton, except that Iprotect or shield the teeth of the gin-saws from refuse and foreign matter through the medium of the `guard-flanges 16 of the breast-bars 15. The air-current tends to carry the material upward and the force of gravity tends to draw the material downward, and consequently the lightest and desirable portion of the material is invariably uppermost and will be first presented to the ginning action of the saws. After the lightest part has been removed by contact with the saws, the force of `air-current on the remaining part will be lessened and the heaviest parts or refuse matter will drop by the force of gravity. The velocity of the air-current should be regulated according to the conditions required and as experience will demonstrate. For this purpose any suitable means may be-provided; but I prefer to employ adjustable shutters or valves 3l atone end of the gin-casing, as in Fig. 3.

after it has passed through thev breast it is cleaned from the saws by the rotary brush and is discharged from the gin-casing into 'theair-trunk through the medium of the fans or blowers.

I have described and shown meanswhereby the currentthrough the gin-casing isproduced by suction fans or blowers; but I do `not confine myself thereto, as the air-currentk can be prod uced by any type of fan or blower,

one or more, and instead of Vthe air-current ascending, it` may flow in anydirection which will convey the material to the gin-saws.

By my invention I provide a simple, eth-v cient, and economical ginning apparatus which operates to completely separate the ber or lint of cotton from all parts of the seed, pods, and bolls, even though the latter are undeveloped, thereby producing a merchantable article from fiber which is ordinarily worthless, or nearly so.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. The combination with a gin-casing, a gang of gin-saws, a brush, and a gin-breast, of a fan or blower arranged to produce a current of air through the gin-casing to convey material to the saws, subtantially as described. l

2. The combination, with a gin-casing, a gang of saws, a brush, and a breast, of an airtrunk and means for producing a current 0f air through the trunk and gin-casing for conveying material to the saws, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a gin-casing, a gang of saws, a brush, and a breast, of a fan or blower for producing an ascending current of air through the casing for lifting the ma- IOO IZO

terialfroin the base portion of .the casing to Y casing for producing an ascending current of air therethrough to lift the material to the saws, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with a gin-casing, a gang of saws, a brush, and a breast, of a conveyer for moving the material through the casing and discharging the refuse of foreign matter therefrom, a beater mechanism arranged in juxtaposition to the conveyer, and means for producing a current of air through the gin-casing for moving the material to the saws, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with a gin-casing, a gang of saws, a brush, and a breast, of a conveyer located in the gin-casing for conducting the material into and out of the same, abeater mechanism arranged in juxtaposition to the conveyer for beating and separating the stock and facilitating its progress toward the delivery end of the casing, and a fan or blower for producing a current of air through the gin-casing to move the material to the saws, substantially as described.

7. The combination, with a gin-casing, a gang of saws,abrush, and a breast, of a traveling conveyer arranged in the base portion of the gin-casing for cond uctihg the material thereinto at one end and therefrom at the opposite end, a pair of co-operating beater-cylinders rotated in juxtaposition to the conveyer, and an air-draft-producing mechanism for causing a column ot'` air to iiow through the gin-casing and move the material to the saws, substantially as described.

8. The combination, with a gin-casing, a gang of saws, and a brush, ot' a breast composed of breast-bars interposed between the sides of the saws, and having guard-flanges projecting outwardly4 beyond the peripheries of the saws to shield the saw-teeth from refuse or foreign matter, substantially as described.

9. The combination, with a gin-casing, a

- gang of saws, and a brush, of a breast composed of breast-bars substantially T-shaped iu cross-section to produce guard-flanges,

endless conveyer for carrying the material through the gin-casing and beater-cylinders arranged above the conveyer and having flattened angularly set arms or iiukes for advancing the material from the receiving end toward the delivery end of the gin-casing, substantially as described.

ll. The combination, with a gin-casing, a gang of saws, a brush, and a breast, of a travcling conveyer arranged in the lbase portion of the gin-casing and a pair of beater-cylinders having iiattened angularly set arms or ilukes increasing in number from the receiving to the delivery end of the casing, substantially as described.

12. The combination, with a gin-casing, a gang of saws, a brush, and a breast, of a pair of co-operating beater-cylinders provided with flat-tened angularly set arms or iiukes, which increase in number from the receiving to the delivery end of the casing for the purpose of eectually beating and separating the stock, substantially as described.

13. The method herein described of ginning cotton, which consists in subjecting the material to the action of a `forced air-current moving through the gin-casing, separating the lint or .ber from the seed and'pods or bolls, and causing the heavier matter to descend by gravity while the separated lint or ber follows the forced air-current, substantially as described. l

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALFRED M. cRooKER. [1.. sj

Witnesses:

WILLIAM P. MARTIN, BENJ. F. HAYES. 

